New Zealand Vintage Computer Forums

Hi - My Name is Kenneth

I found out about this site through Terry. I'm 61 and was made redundant (for the second time in my life) in April this year - not good at my age. Anyway looking to increase my income from 0 to just above 0 I put some System 80's on Trade Me.... and then I met Terry ... and then I wished I had not put them up for sale ... I'm sure others have had the same experience.

I got interested in computers originally through a friend of mine when we lived in Hamilton - In 1978 he bought one of the first (in NZ) TRS80 4K Tape Based Model I's. He used to talk to me for hours about variables and $trings (to be honest I did not have a clue what he was talking about).

Then in 1881/82 we bought a TRS80 Model III at work to use in developing software for working with children with disabilities.... and I was hooked. BTW I'm still looking for a functioning Model III.

In 1983 I bought my own system - not a Model III - way out of my price range - but I did buy a System 80 Blue Label, 48K, expansion interface with 2 disk drives and a strange named dot matrix printer - all for the small sum of $5000.

For many years now my own system and the others sat in the Garage - but as I said above - I'm all fired up again and my system is now in my office at home and (Thanks to Terry) is up and running apart from some problems with the third disk drive.

Finally I would like to put in my two cents worth about two ideas I have heard tossed around recently:

Firstly I think a get-together for the Palmerston/Levin/Wellington area would be excellent.
Secondly I like the idea of having people who can use their skills to help in the technical field for those (like me who lack such skills)

Best wishes
Kenneth

kenneth,

Welcome to the forums!

You are right about TRS-80 Model IIIs. I've been looking for one for years! Does any other user on this forum own one?? (apart from Philip Avery). They seem as rare as hen's teeth!.

Have you taken delivery of that Amiga 500 yet?

Regarding technical knowledge, I had absolutely none when I started my collection in 2007. It's still sketchy in parts. I didn't start out to get into the innards of micros. My initial interest was just to have some nostaligic/historical computers I could display and give talks about when I retired in aboiut 13 years. I found that I was FORCED to learn a lot of stuff just to keep the things working (nothing is a pitiful as a dead computer). Over time as I learnt more, I found gaining some technical knowledge satisfying. I still get stumped by a lot of problems, but if one of my micros isn't working it just annoys the hell out of me!

What I'm saying is don't be afraid to dabble a bit under the hood..especially if you've got nothing to lose anyway. Knowing how they tick at the hardware level adds a new dimension to the hobby. There is a lot of knowledge out there and I've found most people are quite happy to share it.

I'm still waiting for the Amiga - but have since bought a spare Commodore/Amiga monitor for $15 and am currently bidding on two C64's in the hope that I will be able to make one go - now I will need 1541 disk drives etc.
Kenneth

...and very soon you will need a new garage!

Sounds like you've really started to get interested in collecting a few different systems Kenneth. Why a C64? Did you have one back then, or is it just because they are a classic?

Hi Kenneth,

It's great to see someone else bitten by the bug - and I see you have been well and truly bitten by the look some Trade Me auction I've noticed lately

--
Andrew

Hi Kenneth,

I see there are a couple things you are bidding on but are also fairly new to the trademe scene. Are there particular computers you are looking at acquiring and are you comfortable with knowing market values of the various computers? I thought your bid on the Amigas was pretty steep for one of the more commonly occuring types of computer on auction (along with C64s). People post in the auction discussion forum on here "what's a X computer worth?" question when trying to figure what to buy or sell a computer or lot for.

There's a cheap Sega SC-3000H selling in the Antiques category on trademe at the moment. It's not listed in the best category and might not attract maany bids. I'm even inclined to bid if I don't see a familiar name bidding. Likewise the Dick Smith VZ-200 in computers/vintage should go for a reasonable price even though it is quite uncommon as it's not a particular favourite of too many people.

Well, that's some pretty cheap advice seeing I just paid $30 for a book on writing games for a calculator which is possibly a record price for a book in the computer/vintage category, edging out what I paid for a Commodore Sx-64 manual. Generally $5-$15 would be the price range of an old computer book.